The floor was covered with damp and slimy brick; dust webs were everywhere. An old wooden heating trough hung the entire length of the ceiling of the long corridor. Everything was black and dirty. Rooms that are now parlors were then used for storage of wood and coal. In the kitchen of the original house, now an engine-room [now the north hall and offices], could be seen the old open fireplaces once used for broiling the chickens and baking the hoecakes for the early Father of our country, the old cranes and spits still in place. Out the door to the rear there yet remained the old wine-vault, the meathouse, and the smokehouse.I've already added this and some other quotes to some of the pages.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Ike Hoover's first day
Returned home to find 42 Years in the White House waiting for me. A quick look at the photo plates showed only one that seems worth adding to the site (the early Wilson bedroom). But as I started to read, I found on page five that this is going to be interesting, as Ike describes that day in 1891 he first came to the White House to install electrical lighting and looked around the basement (today's ground floor):
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Eeew! Glad they cleaned it up!
ReplyDelete"Ike Hoover". I mean what else COULD the man do except be Chief Usher of the White House?
The lesson here is to name your kid something like "Carter Reagan" if you want him and/or her to grow up to be Chief Usher of the White House. :)
Yea, but who would name thier kid Carter Reagan?
ReplyDeleteThe first story in the book is how young electrician Irwin Hood Hoover introduced himself as "I H Hoover" on his first day in 1891. The major in charge of the electrification project asked him if the "I stands for Ike" and--even tho the answer was no--proceeded to call him Ike thruout the project. Worse, depending on how you look at it, the Theodore Roosevelts all called him "Hooie"!
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